The Book Art. Changes and development in the 2nd half of the 20th Century: the 50's, 60's, 70's, 80's and 90's Book Art

Abstract

In order to understand the concept and evolution of the contemporary Book-Art and to establish the foremost parameters which will shape the canon for the artists’ books in the 21st century it is necessary to analyse the changes and the development that the Book-Art suffered during the 2nd half of the 20th century. The understanding of the evolution of this singular art form is the starting point of the artists’ creation in our current century. In the 20th century and, more importantly, in the 2nd half of it the Book Art was one of the prominent ways of expression. The production of the post-war artistic movements were very often formalised in the book form; the Book Art was then transformed in an object highly personalised. All contemporary artists have used the book to reveal their aesthetic ideologies adapting them to different formats, materials and existing techniques. The Book Art was one of the main creation focal points for all the vanguard movements and artistic positions around that time. The common consciousness and willingness to abolish and to break the prevailing norms of the art market and its economic speculation, the firm goal to destroy the aura aspect of the one-of-a-kind work of art, the tendency to an art multiple, economic, democratic and ephemeral, and finally the electronic art and the net art lead to a favourable field for the Books’ Art as the most attractive alternative to achieve artists’ projects and purposes. I present the Books’ Art of the 50’s movements: CoBrA, Concret Poetry, Letrism, Situationists, Nouveau Réalism; of the 60’s: Fluxus, Zaj, Pop-Art (Ed Rusha), Dieter Roth; of the 70’s: Conceptual Art, Italian Transvanguard, Marcel Brothaers; of the 80’s: Minimal Art (Sol Lewitt), German Neoexpressionism (Anselm Kiefer) and I conclude with the Book-Art of the 90’s: Current Tendencies- Electronic Books and Net Books.